Bisons and Worcester split Friday night doubleheader

WORCESTER, MA - The Buffalo Bisons split a doubleheader with the Worcester Red Sox on Friday night at Polar Park. The Bisons dropped the first game 9-7 after falling behind by eight runs before a late-game comeback. Then the team shut out the WooSox thanks to a pair of big innings in the night cap.

The Bisons were able to strike first, opening up a 1-0 lead over Worcester. Rafael Lantigua reached on a one-out base hit against WooSox starter Richard Fitts. The utilityman would score three batters later on an Addison Barger RBI double. However, the Herd would not score again until the final inning.

Worcester would score in three straight innings, including a pair of runs in the bottom of the second against Ricky Tiedemann. Each of the first three batters in the inning reached on walks. Eddy Alvarez’s sacrifice fly evened the score 1-1, and was followed by a Tyler Heineman RBI single for a 2-1 Worcester lead.

The WooSox would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the third. Paxton Schultz came in to relieve Tiedemann for the final out of the second frame. Schlutz was charged with all three runs in the third inning. Romy Gonzalez drove in Nick Sogard with an RBI triple and scored one batter later. Mark Contreras scored the final run in the inning to extend the Bisons deficit to 5-1.

Gonzalez’s second extra-base hit in as many innings was a grand slam off of Troy Watson, ballooning the Worcester lead to 9-1. It was the first grand slam surrendered by the Bisons pitching staff this season.

However, the Bisons offense came alive in their final at-bat and tried to tie the score. Buffalo batted around in the top of the seventh with five of the first six batters reaching base in the inning. Payton Henry and Cam Eden recorded back-to-back RBI base hits to bring the Herd within six runs, 9-3.

Nathan Lukes belted a two-out grand slam off of A.J. Politi that trimmed the deficit to 9-7. The grand slam over the Worcester Wall in right field was Lukes’ second homer of the season, and Buffalo’s first grand slam offensively. However, Politi would get the final out to preserve the two-run victory for the WooSox.

The Bisons offense opened the scoring for the second straight game of the day, this time in the top of the second against Grant Gambrell. Leo Jimenez drove in Will Robertson and Max McDowell for a 2-0 Herd lead.

Buffalo batted around in the top of the third, with all nine batters coming to the plate in the inning. Orelvis Martinez extended the Bisons’ lead to 3-0 with an RBI double scoring Lantigua. Robertson drove in two on a line drive infield base hit with the infield pulled in. The outfielder’s two run single ballooned the lead to 5-0 in the top of the third.

Andrew Bash opened the second game of the doubleheader, pitching three innings for the Bisons. The right hander recorded five strikeouts in his three innings of work. Brandon Eisert took over in the bottom of the fourth inning for his second appearance of the year. The left hander worked two innings to earn his first win of the season.

Zach Pop and Connor Cooke each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to preserve the second shutout victory of the series for Buffalo. The Bisons pitching staff racked up eight strikeouts in seven innings.

The two teams are scheduled to meet at 4:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoon for the fourth game of the series. Chad Dallas will make his second career Triple-A start for the Bisons when he opposes Brian Van Belle at Polar Park.